Thursday, October 15, 2009

The husband and I made our way up the coast this past weekend for a lover's getaway. It was nice to be with him in the city of San Francisco but I would have been happy to be anywhere with my love.

A few mentionables in case you are heading to the city any time soon...

: Beach Blanket Babylon. A must see. Such a fun and current show with a nice amount of flair and dooda--just how we like it.

: The Slanted Door. I fell in love with this fantastically hip stop in the Ferry Building. We food mapped our way through the weekend and broke a tried and true rule--we returned to the same place. The Slanted Door twice in three days = that good.

: Chinatown. The husband is a way more adventurous eater than me. I'll try any vegetable but when you get meat involved I get a little squirmy. He was delighted with our 100 year old, obscure, walk-through-the-kitchen, up-to-the-third-level, very intimate dining. (Food was ok.) Later, while shopping we were very tempted to pick up a some 'x rated' fortune cookies for those caring for our children back home but chickened out (there were no samples...what classifies as x rated in Chinatown of SF? We feared it may have crossed from funny to just plain crude).

: Fleet Week. The Blue Angels were in town. The show on Saturday was called off after one exhibition due to fog. Being from San Diego, I've seen them before so I wasn't crushed. But it was a totally different experience being out on the rocks with the city behind us and the dynamic birds flying overhead with nary a body between them. Amazing to watch anywhere.

: Parks. We are big on parks. Whenever in a new city or area, we always hit the parks. The Palace of Fine Arts might have been the highlight for me. So pretty and peaceful. I found the perfect spot for a Christmas card shot but realized I didn't have the brood with me. Next time.

: Hook ups. A dear friend of mine moved to the city after law school and we made sure to hook up with her and her husband. While it breaks 'lover's weekend' rules, it was so good to be with them. They took us to their one of their favorite dinner spots (Emmy's Spaghetti Shack). The appetizers were fantastic. We hit the ice cream parlor and then went touring the city at night. It was great to visit some key spots with friends as guides. Holding hands in the back seat while driving down Lombard Street at 10:00 at night with a perfect shot of the city, the bridge and fireworks. I took a mental picture in that moment.

: Urban Life. We stayed downtown, in the heart of it all. And I realized how my suburban life is so different from the pace of true urban living. It's different, for sure. I took it in and appreciated the experience.

: SFMOMAand Glide. We tried to visit Glide Memorial Church (guaranteed by several people to be an original SF experience of diversity and spirituality) but the timing was off and it wasn't a regular service. So we hit MOMA and wandered the book store for some treasures.

: Walking, walking walking. The city is perfect to manuever by foot (and a few cable car rides). That said, I am old and clearly out of shape because I ached in places I haven't felt in years. I think my body was in shock. Our plane home was delayed two hours and I was perfectly fine resting in the airport, feet up, sipping my pumpkin spice latte and cuddling with my partner.A fine weekend indeed.

Next time, I hope my kids can have an equally fun time without Mom and Dad for a few days. Two out of our three weren't so happy.